Chunghwa Telecom Extends Multimedia On Demand Service Using Alcatel's Open Media Suite

Chunghwa Telecom Extends Multimedia On Demand Service Using Alcatel's Open Media Suite Service Now Reaches the Northern Part of Taiwan DALLAS, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alcatel (NYSE:ALA) today announced that Taiwanese service provider Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) has gone live with phase 2 of its Multimedia On Demand (MOD) service offering. Following the initial contract awarded to Alcatel last year, Chunghwa Telecom today announced the extension of its MOD service to the northern part of the island including Tao Yuan, I Lan and Hsinchu areas. It is one of the largest production deployments using the Alcatel Open Media Suite, and marks the biggest commercial IPTV deployment for broadcast TV and Video on Demand in the Asia Pacific region using a commercial application platform. Chunghwa Telecom is the most experienced and largest integrated telecommunication operator in Taiwan. With approximately three million DSL subscribers, the company is ideally positioned to offer IP-based services such as broadcast TV, Video-on-Demand, Karaoke-on-Demand, and Home Banking & Commerce. "With Alcatel's Open Media Suite we have the ability to strengthen our leadership position in the telecom industry in Taiwan. Phase 2 of the MOD service is expected to gain us 300,000 more subscribers in 2005. We are planning to gradually extend the service to the central and southern part of Taiwan in the first half year," said Mr. Ho-Chan Tan, Chairman, Chunghwa Telecom. "Deploying IPTV services for our customers with an end user experience that is exactly tuned to the local media culture gives us the unique advantage we need to stay ahead of the competition. Moving into the video space allows us to investigate new and interesting service offerings to retain and grow our customer base." "Alcatel has long been a key contributor to the development of broadband in Taiwan. Leveraging on our 1.26 million DSL lines at Chunghwa Telecom, we have deployed our proven Open Media Suite to support the enhancement of its MOD service, representing a step further towards building a user-centric broadband world in Taiwan," said Ivan Verbesselt, vice president of Alcatel's Information, Communication, and Entertainment business activity. The winning solution includes Alcatel's IPTV Open Media Platform and Open Video Server, integrated with a leading edge MPEG-2/MPEG-4 set top box from Acer and Foxconn together with an ANT Fresco browser, as well as an integrated Widevine security solution. Acer and Alcatel are doing the end-to-end system integration. About Chunghwa Telecom CHT completed its corporatization on 1 July 1996 under the direction of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications according to the Telecommunication Act and Memorandum of Chunghwa Telecom Corporation. Incorporated with a registered capital at NT$96.477 billion, CHT chiefly provides telecommunication and information-related services. Its scope of services covers city call, long-distance calls, international calls, GSM, data communication, Internet services, broadband networking, satellite communication, intelligent network, mobile data and multimedia broadband. As the most experienced and largest integrated telecommunication operator in Taiwan, CHT is one of the most important partners for international telecommunication cooperation, with distinctive achievements in promoting global real-time communication, improvement social life, and enhancing economic efficiency. About Alcatel's Open Media Suite The Alcatel Open Media Suite is an end-to-end portfolio of products and professional services. The portfolio encompasses user interface customization, integration with third party equipment such as set top boxes and digital video head ends, as well as the facilitation of negotiations with content owners and suppliers. Products include the 5950 Open Media Platform and Applications and the 5959 Open Media Content Management and Delivery system, including the 5959 Open Video Server. The openness and flexibility of these products as well as the software development kits ensure that customers and third parties can easily develop new applications. The Open Media Suite is designed to allow service providers to fully profit from the investment in their broadband access networks. With its flexible non-proprietary architecture, advances in technology can be adopted quickly, thus increasing network efficiency and overall profitability. About Alcatel Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks; applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 12.5 billion in 2003, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com/ . Photo: Newscom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031111/ALALOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Alcatel CONTACT: press, Amy MacLeod, +1-613-784-1980 , or Amy.macleod@alcatel.com , or investor relations, Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, +1-703-668-3571, or Charlotte.laurent-ottomane@alcatel.com , or industry analysts, Julie Buckley, +1-707-792-7820, or Julie.buckley@alcatel.com , all of Alcatel Web site: http://www.alcatel.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment